fake it til you make it: do you feel like you’re a blogging failure?

You guys know I love blogging. Finally, it seems I have finally found a hobby that I am going to stick to! But that doesn’t stop me feeling like I’m no good at it. So that’s why I am pushing myself to fake it til you make it. Let me explain. The journey from blog post idea to blog post go live generally goes a little summin like this…

Idea starts bursting out of brain, must.write.down

Writes post at lightspeed, coz ideas, NOW!

Saves Draft

Tweaks

Changes one more word

Tweaks

Me: “Yeah bloody love it, I would 100% read that”

Schedules tweets

Prepares Instagram

*Hovers over publish button* “Ermigaaaad WHO in their right mind is going to read this garbage?”

Changes something, changes it back

Publishes

“Ermigaaaaad, this is awful, who wants to read my wittering on?”

And then with any luck…

14. Wow, people are reading it! People are liking it! Am I actually good at this thang?

See…I’m not the only one.

So what is it? The ever increasing Imposter Syndrome? When you feel like there are SO many other amazing talented people out there, that how dare you try and play the game too? Or perhaps it’s pure lack of self-confidence. Well let me tell you, if you have got so far as having an idea that you believe in, creating an outlet for that idea, and pushing it out into the world, you’re self confidence should already be sky high. If you are already doing all of those things, you’ve bloody well done it. You should be proud and you should shout about it. Yeah you might not have 10,000 people clambering to comment on your blog post, or 2 mil hitting that like button on Insta, or retweeting your tweet, but you can still act like you do.

This doesn’t just apply to blogging. Got a business idea? Commit to it. Treat it like you already OWN it. Fake it til you make it. My gal for positive visualisation is Victoria, read about her experience with the laws of attraction here.

Engagement is key. Regularity is key. Keep posting like you mean business. Keep chatting like the whole world wants to listen. Here are my tips to fake it til you make it.

Tweet, tweet

I used to not really bother with Twitter, because soz mate, who wants to talk to you? Cue all of the, there’s too many other people out there doing it better, nothing I say is interesting, blah blah blah thoughts. But if you don’t bother, how are you ever going to find out? Yes many of my tweets go by without a reply or a like, but then some of them get hundreds. In the last month, I have increased my number of tweets by more than 25%, and guess what? My impressions are up 67%, my profile visits increased by 175% and I gained over 100 followers. I’m not trying to toot my own trumpet, but you put out what you get in. Fake it til you make it and start tweeting like you’ve got 1 million followers!

Insta-love

Same goes for Instagram. BELIEVE that your photos should be seen by thousands. Post the content that you love, not the content that you think other people will love. You want a genuine following? BE genuine yourself. Stay true to yourself. How many huge, and I mean HUGE bloggers truly stick to a theme? Yes they have beaut photos, but they often post what they want, when they want. They don’t need to please the masses with a perfectly pink grid, their following loves them for being themselves. That’s the kinda community I want to build, that I want to chat to, that I want to support.

It’s all about the captions. I bloody love me a good caption. Sometimes I’ve felt SO nervous about my own, but it’s what I want to write. It’s what I would tell a thousand people if they were listening, so I’ll tell my 300 for now, and they’re so bloody supportive.

Believe in your blog (business/career/hobby etc)

When I published my first blog in 2014, I was timid. I wrote it as if no one would want to listen, like I shouldn’t be doing it. I didn’t tell anyone I was writing it, I didn’t tweet about it, and I barely even used Instagram. This time around though, I am owning it. I write about whatever the hell is on my mind, and I want everyone to read it. When I published my first posts, I was SO nervous about what work colleagues would think, or old friends who probs just stalk my social media these days (don’t worry babe, same). I used to think they would be looking at me thinking, who the HELL do you think you are? And maybe they are, but ya know what, I don’t care. So now, the nerves have dispersed, and I write as if the whole world is listening.

And one more thing to fake it til you make it…

Engagement. It underpins everything. I would hate social media if it weren’t for the chat that comes with it. I don’t want people to follow me if they don’t truly like what they see. If they don’t want to be a part of a community, or enter into a conversation or sprinkle a few likes around. That’s what it is all about for me, I’m all about the chat on Twitter, Instagram AND my blog. Honestly, talk to people like you believe in yourself. You will get out what you put in!

Live and breathe whatever your “thing” is, until it becomes your main “thing”. Act like you have already achieved all that you want to achieve, and the rest will come. I truly believe this, as I don’t think there is any other way to be. Don’t sit and worry about all the things you don’t have, believe that you already have it. Fake it til you make it.